This invention relates to a method for cutting and removing sutures, and particularly to a method and an instrument requiring the use of only one hand to sever sutures.
Present suture removal kits include both a scissors and a forceps. The scissors normally provided are not normally honed to a sharp point since such suture removal kits are designed to be disposable and the extra cost of tooling and machining would be prohibitive. To employ such a kit, it is necessary to hold the scissors in one hand and the forceps in the other, lift the suture with the forceps, slide one blade of the scissors underneath the raised suture, cut the suture, and then remove the cut suture with the forceps. With this method, the surgeon must rely on a nurse or other assistant to immobilize the sutured area or risk gouging the patient if the patient should move. Since it is more desirable for the physician himself to control the patient with one hand and to flex or otherwise manipulate the sutured area for access, attempts have been made to employ a very sharply pointed scissors and eliminate the use of the forceps from the procedure. However, this necessitates an extreme risk of patient injury in approaching the sutured area with a sharply pointed scissors, lodging the point of one of the scissors blades underneath the suture, pushing the pointed end of the scissors forward without impaling the sutured surface, and then closing the scissors blades.
Neither of these methods is at all satisfactory where it is necessary to remove sutures in delicate or close quarters, such as inside of a nostril, in the area of the eye, behind the ear, and the like. In such areas there is simply not sufficient room to utilize both a forceps and scissors. Furthermore, it is often impossible to see the area being worked on when two hands, a forceps, and a scissors are being employed. This results in the distinct possibility of inadvertantly puncturing the sutured surface. In addition, such procedures require an extended period of time to remove sutures, during which time the patient is frequently extremely uncomfortable due to the necessity of providing sufficient access to the sutured area.
The suture removal method and instrument of this invention provide an inexpensive instrument which is quick, safe, and easy to operate, even in delicate situations, and which may be made disposable. This instrument and method afford almost total visibility of sutured surfaces in close quarters and allow the physician a free hand for controlling the patient.